Gabe Kapler’s introductory press conference as the new manager of the Phillies touched on a lot of topics about him and the future of the organization.
And there was a question about coconut oil.
After Kapler’s playing days were over, he started a blog called “Kaplifestyle” where he wrote about lots of topics, like eating the right kinds of foods and different workouts. He also wrote about the various ways to use coconut oil, most notably as a “lubricant,” in a post that appears to be deleted but obviously not forgotten.
Longtime Philadelphia sports media member Howard Eskin asked Kapler about that post and his, uh, creative uses for coconut oil at the press conference Thursday.
“Much of what I have written is several years old,” Kapler said, trying to answer matter-of-factly after a long and awkward question. “And when I was writing that, I was in a different mindset than I am now as the manager of the Phillies. Even with that said, if you look through the various posts, there is some tongue-in-cheek stuff that I had directed at players to try and make them laugh. Thinking through it, there are some things I may have written a little differently.
“Certainly, we all make mistakes and miss the mark from time to time. If you go back and look at those posts, they were meant for health. They were meant to help people be more prepared and stronger. They are imperfect. I am imperfect. But I’m also very proud of a lot of the content that I would encourage people to go back and dig into and find the stuff that really does hit the mark.”
Eskin called it the “elephant in the room.” Kapler played for eight teams, including the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, and retired for a season in the middle of his career to be a minor league manager. He’s probably seen a lot of weird stuff in his baseball career, but here’s guessing he’d never seen a manager get asked about coconut oil.